By 2030 sixty percent of the world's population will live in urban areas by and there will be 2 billion cars on the road (Wired 2010). The automobile offers affordable freedom of movement within cities, providing access to all the benefits that cities offer. It plays a crucial role in the US and other world economies, however, now more than ever, it requires radical reinvention (Mitchell 2010). The design space within which auto makers have been working imposes several constraints thus limiting the currently developed products. Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles have led the way for many years but newly imposed requirements associated with the environment and energy consumption are forcing essential changes.
Car costs have remained relatively constant, in updated dollars, compared to fifty years ago, implying that there has not been any radical technological progress as compared to electronics and computers where costs have dropped by orders of magnitude over the same time period. Furthermore, although most cars are designed for five passengers they are underutilized by a single driver while the cost per driven mile (including fuel, maintenance, and utilization) continues to grow. However, many people prefer the flexibility, freedom and comforts afforded by a personal vehicle over public transportation and are willing to pay the extra associated costs. Staying the course will not provide solutions to the aforementioned problems—an out-of-the-box approach is necessary to face and solve these problems from fresh and multiple points of view.
Rather than looking at the issue from the traditional vehicle side only, as it has been done by car manufacturers, there is a need for a new concept from the point of view of the user, city authorities, urban planners and developers, civil and transportation engineers, power generation utilities, economics, policy makers, and other stakeholders. There is a need for an integrated ecosystem where the vehicle is just one of the components, the others being power-generating systems, parking and storage, recharging and refueling stations, with proper maintenance and the flexibility of a safe utilization. As we enter a new age of sustainable transportation, there are many challenges as well as opportunities ahead.
Over 6.7 billion people reside on Earth, with more than half now living in urban areas. This includes 26 cities with populations exceeding ten million (UN 2010). There are 850 million vehicles, nearly all powered by ICE and energized with petroleum. In the United States, 85 percent of all personal travel today is by automobile. Americans drive three trillion miles a year, on four million miles of roads, consuming 180 billion gallons of fuel each year dispensed from 170,000 service stations. Furthermore, we can expect significant increases in the number of cars being sold, with a sales growth rate of a few percent per year, in emerging markets like China and India. China's vehicle population is projected to surpass that of the United States by about 2030. 18 million barrels of oil are consumed each day driving cars, while 2.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide is emitted each year. Roadway collisions claim 1.2 million lives each year. In dense city centers, average urban speeds today can be well under 10 miles per hour (Mitchell 2010). Urban centers in many states such as New York State face similar problems that most US and global cities have. They can be briefly summarized:
City traffic congestion is at very high levels and is no longer tolerable or sustainable;
Environmental (air and noise) pollution levels are skyrocketing due to ICE technology;
Parking and garage spaces are limited and require a new sustainable infrastructure;
Traditional fuel service stations and associated underground fuel tanks cause soil pollution; and
Growing traditional fuel prices, including strong dependency from overseas work and manufacturers, have high social and economic costs to individuals and communities.
However, cities by their very high-density nature require less energy use per capita because they enable greater efficiency by providing people with more choices of goods and services relatively nearby and more options for getting to them. It is estimated that an average of 24.9 miles per person per day are traveled by vehicles in the largest fifty U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of more than one million.
A combination of battery progress and a clear understanding of personal urban mobility needs leads one to the conclude that battery-electric vehicles can meet the needs of urban drivers sufficiently well to provide an alternative to today's ICE vehicles. The first generation of these vehicles will be able to perform well enough to initiate the switch to battery-electric automobiles, and their advantages will increase over time as further technological innovations, together with economies of scale, take effect.
There are several concepts ready to enter the market. For example the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab City Car concept as illustrated in FIG. 1. The City Car carries maximum 2 passengers and utilizes fully integrated in-wheel electric motors and suspension systems eliminating the need for traditional drive train configurations like engine blocks, gear boxes, and differentials because they are self-contained, digitally controlled, and reconfigurable. The car is powered by one or more lithium-ion battery that can fuel the vehicle up to 200 miles with no emissions. The car is currently under test-drive and expected to be available in the market by late 2012. This car is intended to provide trips back home after or before getting in public transport hubs like airports, train stations and long-route bus terminals. The wheel robot provides all wheel power and steering capable of 360 degrees of movement, thus allowing for Omni-directional movement. The vehicle can maneuver in tight urban spaces and be parked by sideways translation.
The GM EN-V is a two-seat electric vehicle that incorporates the dynamic stabilization technology of the Segway as illustrated in FIG. 2. The car, which has a top speed of about 25 mph, is powered by a lithium-ion battery that can be recharged by a standard wall outlet, and can go roughly 25 miles between charges. Ultimately the GM EN-V will have autonomous and features collision avoidance systems that can detect pedestrians as well as other vehicles, and will be remotely retrieved from parking spots, and has a “platooning” feature, which allows it to coordinate with and follow other vehicles when traveling on city roads.
There are several other concepts all centered about the paradigm of urban mobility zero-emission vehicle. However, major problems still remain open. To realize complete electro-mobility a new infrastructure is required and usually includes power distribution stations, which might require a new electric power transmission grid, with associated substations and shorter distribution lines to the specific charging structure. Clearly none of the concepts currently proposed by specialized automotive laboratories has considered the vehicle and the refueling problems as well as the urban environment all at once.